Building an L115A3 isn’t a journey for the lighthearted between the scarce choice of replicas to choose from to the pricing of the vastly needed parts to achieve the final look. If just like me you want the best replica as a base to mount real accessories, then there are only three on the market right now :
- Ares AW338 CNC Gaz/CO2
- Ares MSR-006/7/8 spring powered
- Well G96 (copy of the gaz Ares) AW338
There’s only one other that I can’t speak for and that is the S&T copy of the MSR-006/7/8 as I’ve never seen one. All the other airsoft AW are either based on the 7.62×51 Arctic Warfare rifle (Maruzen Type 96, Well MB01, MB08, and the MB44xx family, and the Tokyo Marui AWS) which would require an upscaling of caliber on the externals, or would require too much work to fit AI parts.
The three handpicked share a decisive common trait : a nearly 100% accurate replica of the internal Accuracy International chassis.
To the left is the bare chassis of the Ares MSR-006/7/8 which I chose as my base rifle. As it can be obviously observed, the mounting hole for the bipod/rail bracket assembly is nearly on par with the real chassis. Here the AI extended bipod block is just a few mm off center and a tad smaller.
The whole assembly will perfectly fit without modifying anything by simply using a smaller mounting pin (either 6 or 7mmx30mm).
Having a chassis almost similar to the real one also offers the ability to fit real stocksides with minor modifications. Most stocksides are a drop-in fit on the back folding part of the stock, while for the main chassis there’s only minimal work to do. Usually it’s basically removing some extra material with a dremel rotary tool.
Finally, I do not recommend using the Ares SC-MSR-006, repacked by ASG as the AW338. The lack of internal chassis reduces the overall strengh and quality of the build, plus you would need to heavily modify the front end to accomodate any of the real bipod/bracket assembly. On top of that, the replica doesn’t have a flutted barrel.
